Challenge
The Four Agreements
The book that has changed my life for the better! About two years ago, my life took an unexpected turn. I simply had decided that maybe I wasn't meant to be a famous author. For years, I tormented myself with the thought that maybe I was not good enough.
By Adrianne Kirksey3 years ago in BookClub
The Jungle
All human beings have their limits. The labor and civil rights we have in the United States were not freely given by any means. There was no sudden realization that workers deserved safety and pay. This epiphany was borne of violence, inflicted onto the many by the few, and some semblance of autonomy was wrenched back from the hands of those that looked down onto the world and saw no humanity, only beings to exploit. My grandfather used to tell my mother, "No one is born free. Freedom isn't free." As grim a thing as it is to say to a child, history has shown us over and over again that the sentiment rings true.
By S. C. Almanzar3 years ago in BookClub
The Boy Who Lived
I first encountered the world of Harry Potter by eavesdropping on a friend reading the first book to her young daughter. My friend was a good narrator, and her daughter was clearly enthralled. I too got caught up in the overheard snippet of story about a resilient hero, the orphan hailed as "the Boy Who Lived."
By Sonia Heidi Unruh3 years ago in BookClub
The Deep Transformation from "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris
Picture the scene: the ScotRail train coasting eastwards half-asleep against an early Scottish morning, with the dewy, dreary Western Scotland clashing against the awakening buzz of a clear work-day sky of the Eastern side. I'm sitting around the middle of the train, staring at nothing across the passing-by backdrop of the Scottish lowlands, tears streaming endlessly down my face, with a copy of The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris laid across my lap.
By Cameron Smith3 years ago in BookClub
“Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” -Holden Caulfield
Throughout my life I have read many books that tear into my soul and truly leave a gripping and lasting impression on me. Animal Farm, 1984, Jane Eyre, Gathering Blue, The Giver and Ella Enchanted, to name a few. I feel each of those books gave me a refreshed and rejuvenated sense of my identity, how I tried to express my inner author voice and how I saw love, life and relationships.
By Melissa Ingoldsby3 years ago in BookClub
Young Adult Mature Book Influences
Tragically, born with a permanent injury meant spending four days a week in study hall, while the fifth, a very light physical education commitment needed addressing. As it did waiting for my first middle school period class, book reading took up the forty-five-minute period. Sports related titles including, the quirky Sparky Lyle baseball diary, “The Bronx Zoo”, “Two Minute Warning”, “Black Sunday” were interesting education experiences, while other exciting efforts like “Cathedral”, and “The Fifth Horseman” opened my eyes to international newsworthy thrilling ideas.
By Marc OBrien3 years ago in BookClub
Finding My Voice
The moment was sitting solo in the back of the classroom for independent time. I couldn't tell you the teacher's name—nor my classmates. I don't think I felt it was important at the time, considering it was a matter of time before I made my way to a new school. And I knew the statistics of kids like me. Still, I liked this solitary time—reading time. And this classroom had a small trove of books donated to the class library.
By Dan-O Vizzini3 years ago in BookClub
Midnight Transformations
Before reading The Midnight Library as part of Brandy Clark's book club, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about regret. Both the concept of regrets and the specific instances themselves plagued my mind regularly. Like I'm sure many of us do, as time travel is such a prevalent ideal in our culture, I sometimes think about the top moments or actions I would go back and change if given the chance. The funny thing people don't realize is that we are constantly time traveling, and maybe that's the problem. We're always rapidly moving forward, into the future, whether we like it or not, while simultaneously traveling to the past in our minds while visiting memories, sometimes we even become stuck there. Either direction one goes, too far in the future or the past, the outcome is essentially the same: time spent not being present in the current moment. In other words: time we'll never get back spent not living our lives.
By Hailey Marchand-Nazzaro3 years ago in BookClub
